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September 2008

We left Kuta in high spirits with a very full car.

It is hard enough to fit two adults and one child with all their luggage into a Suzuki Jimny - let alone three adults, a child and all their luggage! With Gavin's genius packing we managed and you could even say that we had some room to spare. We left a large bag and Gavin’s surf board at Hotel Lusa. The plan -Ìý that the space made by doing this would allow us to transport Becca.

Sunset in Lovina

The drive to Balian was funny - we felt like Bali professionals pointing out interesting places and facts about the general cultural differences between us and Indonesians. We laughed hysterically at some of the driving we saw and decided that we will make it a mission to take photos of some of the crazy over loaded motor bikes and put them on the blog. So keep looking out for some bizarre pictures.

We had a great time in Balian - it was really beautiful when we arrived the weather was great and the sky a perfect colour blue. The kids ran around the rocks, chased each other around the beach and played Samba on old paint tins with sticks while we watched, laughed and took photographs.

Soon after beautiful Lovina wove her magical spell on us once again and two nights became four. The days drifted by with warm breezes and blistering hot sunshine. The few brief interruptions to our lazy and hazy days were collecting Ayu's two girls (Leonie and Unie) and bringing them back to the hotel to play with Tehya.

They are both such sweet girls, polite and very cheeky - they brought with them lots of smiles and good fun. Becca really enjoyed getting to meet them and playing pool side with Tehya and I.

We spent a morning at the Banjar Holy Hot Springs so Becca could see and swim in them and get to experience the crazy market sellers at the entrance - she was as horrified and annoyed by them as we had been before.

Gavin, Tehya and Aunt Becca enjoy hot springs

The last night there was rather drunken and very funny - we played on the balcony, dressing Tehya and Becca in sarongs so they danced to Indian music and pretended to be butterflies and Indonesian princesses. The next day we were supposed to drive the four/five hours back to Kuta but we all felt too tired and hungover…..so we left the Rini and drove ten minutes down the road to the Melka Excelcior Hotel and booked into a suit - which we shared with Becca again.

The Melka was one of the strangest and most surreal experiences of my life. The hotel advertises itself as they only hotel in Bali that has resident dolphins. It has four of these beautiful and majestic creatures living in a series of salt water pools.

The first afternoon I felt very depressed at the sight of them, it all seemed very sad to keep them so contained. We all questioned our motives for staying at the hotel and considered booking out again.

As the day wore on and we got to watch the dolphins swim and interact with the staff that care for them, it did become clear that although it is not an ideal existence for these mammals - they are well cared for and demonstrate great affection for the staff that look after them. The next day we booked out and paid for Tehya and Becca to go into one of the Dolphin pools and swim with one of them.

Swimming with dolphins

Becca and Tehya got to swim with the young female dolphin as she is known to be the most gentle and calm. The other three male dolphins are apparently a little frisky and can get a bit over excited.

Becca was pretty nervous and Tehya was a bit confused but the swim went well. The dolphin was lovely, she swam around them as they floated in the water, occasionally getting close enough for them to reach out and stroke her gently as she glided past.

The hotel also had pools with black tip Reef Sharks and Turtles. Some of the information we read suggested that the animals at the hotel had been moved there from less desirable locations were they had not been cared for.